Music backdrop

Music movies

Stories where rhythm and melody take center stage, including biographies of legends and dance-filled spectacles.

Subgenres include: Narrative Musical, Jukebox Musical, Concert Film.

311. Selena

Selena
Drama Music History
6.9
19972h 7minUnited States
Director: Gregory Nava

Overview

In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.


312. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Animation Comedy Adventure Crime Music
6.8
19961h 21minUnited States
Director: Mike Judge

Overview

Slacker duo Beavis and Butt-Head wake to discover their TV has been stolen. Their search for a new one takes them on a clueless adventure across America, during which they manage to accidentally become America's most wanted.


313. That Thing You Do!

That Thing You Do!
Comedy Drama Romance Music
7.0
19961h 48minUnited States
Director: Tom Hanks

Overview

A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager. But behind the scenes, the group’s sudden fame tests their strength, their maturity and responsibility, and their ability to resist the temptations that money and notoriety always make possible.


314. Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman
Comedy Music
7.4
19961h 24minUnited States
Director: Christopher Guest

Overview

Aspiring director Corky St. Clair and the marginally talented amateur cast of his hokey small-town musical production go overboard when they learn that Broadway theater agent Mort Guffman will be in attendance.


315. Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?
Music Comedy Drama Romance
7.7
19962h 16minJapan
Director: Masayuki Suō

Overview

A bored accountant spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.


316. Mr. Holland's Opus

Mr. Holland's Opus
Drama Music
7.3
19952h 23minUnited States
Director: Stephen Herek

Overview

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.


317. Immortal Beloved

Immortal Beloved
Drama Music Romance Historical Drama Music Biopic
7.4
19942h 1minUnited States
Director: Bernard Rose

Overview

A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.

Themes

Unspoken love vs duty, Family loyalty and conflict, Artistic genius under hardship, Legacy and secrecy, Memory and reconciliation, Public performance vs private life

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

318. Lisbon Story

Lisbon Story
Drama Music
7.1
19941h 40minGermany, Portugal
Director: Wim Wenders

Overview

Wim Wenders' homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterious postcard from a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.


319. Farinelli

Farinelli
History Drama Music
6.8
19941h 51minItaly, France
Director: Gérard Corbiau

Overview

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.


320. Airheads

Airheads
Comedy Crime Music
6.2
19941h 32minUnited States
Director: Michael Lehmann

Overview

The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an FM rock radio station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.